'American Horror Story': Jessica Lange May Not Star In Season 5

Screenwriter Ryan Murphy presents the award to actress Jessica Lange at the 9th Annual Santa Barbara International Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film in Santa Barbara, California, November 16, 2014.
Reuters/Phil Klein

It is confirmed that “American Horror Story” is returning for Season 5. John Landgraf, CEO of FX Networks, has said that the new season is going to be “very different” from previous seasons. However, it has not yet been revealed who is returning and who is not returning to star in “American Horror Story” Season 5. And, there is no official confirmation yet that “Freak Show” was Jessica Lange’s swansong season. Ryan Murphy, co-creator of the show, posted a cryptic tweet, which indicates that the veteran actress may not star in the upcoming season.

“Thank you Jessica...for everything. Always,” Murphy said on hisTwitter feed. Lange had said before the premiere of Season 4 that “Freak Show” will be her final series. She said, as quoted by Huffington Post, "I'm going to do the next season [Season 4] of this and hopefully a play and then maybe one or two movies and then I think -- I feel like maybe then it's time to start something brand new in life.”

In his interview with TV Line, Landgraf said that he has no clue whether Lange is returning to star in Season 5 or not. He said that he knows about the characters, tone and the time but he is not aware about the cast. Landgraf said that Murphy has been given complete freedom to decide. He, however, hoped that Season 5 will return to modern time period and said that there will be “large reinvention” between Book 4 and Book 5.

Except Lange, most of the “Freak Show” star-cast have expressed their interest in doing another season of the horror anthology series, including Lily Rabe, Michael Chiklis, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett. Sarah Paulson has been roped in to star in Murphy’s new show, “American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson.”

It is being speculated that “American Horror Story” Season 5 is likely to focus on Operation Top Hat, a “local field exercise” that was conducted by United States Army Chemical Corps in 1953. More details about the new season may get revealed at the 32nd Annual PaleyFest. It is expected that Season 5 may premiere in October this year.